It's beginning to sound more likely that Michigan State true freshman Damion Terry will play against Youngstown State on Saturday, barring any setbacks in Wednesday and Thursday practices.Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

EAST LANSING — Mark Dantonio said the decision on whether or not to play Damion Terry will be made after he watches practice this week.

Dantonio made it clear that redshirt sophomore Connor Cook will see the majority of the reps with the ones, with Terry getting the remainder of the work as the No. 2 quarterback.

"You can't get three guys ready, you have to work on two,'' said the head coach, who is much more likely to start Cook on Saturday, regardless of whether Terry plays.

"Really, you've just got to see an absence of mistakes,'' Dantonio said on Tuesday. "We have to see as he performs this week, can he control the offense, play calling, getting in and out of certain checks, having a system for him that's pared down a little bit for him.

"But you have to see him operate successfully and function successfully in practice, I think.''

Spartans quarterbacks coach Brad Salem gave Terry positive marks for his performance following Tuesday's practice and said he felt stronger about the true freshman's ability to handle playing this season.

"I think today is stronger, just because you see him. We haven't even had really a whole practice,'' Salem said. "But even the practices early, back in fall camp, calling plays, we're much smoother (now), just command of the huddle, and cadence, simple things you don't think about, and when the ball is on this hash or that hash, why is it relative, and knowing where to put your eyes on certain pass plays, there's much more comfort today.''

Salem wasn't necessarily convinced Terry's strong practice on Tuesday is enough in and of itself to make the decision to play him.

"It's such a big decision, it can't be made in one hour and today,'' he said. "If you make the decision to play him, it's for a duration.''

Salem said he has talked to Terry about handling a Big Ten environment.

The first clue for the Michigan State coaching staff and Dantonio — who had never played a redshirt freshman, but much less a freshman before this fall — was the second jersey scrimmage at Spartan Stadium this fall, when Terry completed 10-of-14 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns.

"At the time, you'd seen slight flashes, but he had limited reps, so when you saw it, he put up some impressive numbers and thew the ball very well deep, and was very instinctive, when to leave the pocket, very calm in the pocket, so when you saw it, it was like `wow,' '' Salem said, "and that's why you keep going back and want to reproduce that.

"You're hoping for 100 percent consistency, and we're not there yet.''

Playing Terry represents quite a challenge for the staff, both for Salem to get the true freshman polished enough to handle what Youngstown State's well-coached defense will throw at him, and for co-offensive coordinators Dave Warner and Jim Bollman in terms of what plays they will put in this week's package.

By Salem's estimation, the playbook will have to be cut by at least 50 percent.

""I would say, total playbook, at least 50, you still have to simplify, but understand, that's a lot of football,'' Salem said. "The thing I think that's key, you have to pare (the playbook) with the person, his abilities. And what can he comprehend.

"The reality is how many plays do you call it in a game? You run 61 plays, and then how many does he get? So you run one play twice, both ways, and you don't need that many.''

Salem concludes the ultimate question that much be answered is: "Can you get them to a level of comfort that you're just reacting, and not processing and thinking …''

And if the answer is "yes,'' Dantonio might feel comfortable enough that Terry won't make impact mistakes and trot him out onto the playing field in a green jersey on Saturday.